It Will Change Our Lives Forever
by withinsvupotter
Summary: Many heinous crimes have been seen in the eyes of the detectives of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. But this case is breaking their hearts. Elliot and Olivia are scared. I mean, which case is so cruel, it would make Captain Cragen afraid, and...cry?
1. Scared Before Seeing

Captain Cragen thought that he had seen it all.

He had received a phone call ten minutes ago from the Captain of the Queens Special Victims Unit, Cap. Jake Severn. They had received a call from 911 dispatchers that two teenage boys had made a gruesome discovery in an abandoned warehouse. IAB was ordering that all SVU bureaus work together to solve the crime.

For the first time since his induction as Captain of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, the captain cried over a case, for the first time in 16 years.

"John, I don't care what you say. The JFK murder will never be solved! That is one part of history that we are not meant to know the truth from!"

"Repeat that as many times as you want my daring partner, but one day it will be solved!" exclaimed John.

"I say give up Fin." said Elliot. "JFK is like his idol; he will sit there all day and argue."

"Captain Alert" whispered Olivia, and they all put their head down and grabbed a pen to look like they were doing their work as ordered. She had seen the Captain coming out of his office, and he would become frustrated sometimes when he saw they were socializing instead of doing their paperwork. But when almost 20 seconds had passed, and the Captain still had not said anything, Olivia grew worried and lifted her head to take a look.

"Captain, what's happened? You look like you have been crying" said a concerned Olivia. Fin, Elliot, and John all turned around. Sure enough, their captain for 10 years, well in Fin's case 9, had a worried look on his face, and looked like he had been crying.

"Cap-" began Elliot.

"Olivia, call Novak and tell her to come down. Elliot the same to Dr. Huang, Fin the same to Warner. Tell them it's an emergency."

With a puzzled look, the three complied with their task. Detective Munch, however, looked at the Captain as he began to walk away, looking more like his age. He had never seen the Captain cry before, even when he mentioned his wife, Marge. Something terrible had to have happened.

"Captain, what's going on?" asked Munch.

After nearly a minute of silence, the four detectives looked at their captain, who finally turned around. "Something that will change our lives forever John; Something that will change our lives forever."

Nearly half an hour later, 8 people were crowded into the Manhattan Special Victims Unit conference room. This room was hardly ever used, which worried the occupants except the captain. The last time Olivia remembered they had used this room, was during the case of undercover DEA agent Olivia Sandoval/Tellez.

"Okay. I got a call from IAB Commissioner Tucker about a case. It has been called as top priority and all five SVU bureaus are working this case."

"Captain-" started Elliot.

"Elliot! Not now, at least, during this case. Now I know how you all feel about having a case taken from you, but since it is in our jurisdiction, we are the top, receiving help from fellow NYPD detectives. Trust me, we're gonna need **It**." said the Captain in a serious tone.

Everyone nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation, but couldn't help but wonder: What was the case exactly? Why was SVU being called in? And how serious is it that every unit in the city is needed?

"Now I have called Novak, Huang, and Warner into this discussion because I want you to go with us to the crime scene. I know Novak and Huang don't usually come with us, but I feel that it will be needed for you to come along, to give you some hope to put a little bit more effort in this case. Huang of course is needed to be able to derive a profile of the killer or killers. I personally hope that whoever did this had help. Hard to imagine that one person could come up with all of this on his own. Novak, it is very unlikely that you ever go to the crime scene, only when...you feel…that you need to see the victim in order to prosecute the case. I don't believe it is going to be needed, since the photos are most likely going to be enough, but I think you might want to come.

Casey nodded, remembering having to see the body of the 16-year-old girl who had died at the hands of Jamie, who had later been discovered to have committed the crime while having a lapse of her bipolar disorder.

"Warner, I believe you had just received a call before we called you?"

"Yes Captain. Some bodies were found in a warehouse, and I was about to leave when you had Fin call me and say it was an emergency."

"The bodies are the victims of this case. I just…want to warn you all of what you are going to see in this case. Press is all over, at least the ones that can take it are."

A nervous glance seemed to pass through the group, before diverting their eyes back to the captain.

"Well, it's now the moment of truth. Everyone grab your coats. Let's head over to the crime scene."

They all stood and began leaving one by one, with the Captain in the lead. Elliot noticed that Olivia had stayed behind, taking longer, still in her seat, staring ahead.

"Everything ok Liv?"

Olivia stood up and looked Elliot in the eye. He noticed that there was some redness, indicating that she had been crying.

"No Elliot. Everything is not alright. I really have a bad feeling about this case. Captain is like a father to me; we are all like a family. What ever happened that made your own dad cry and scared? When that happens, you know that it's going to change everything. And it even makes you afraid for your own life."


	2. Gaining Courage and Entering

Every single time that Elliot Stabler responded to a call on the radio system, he learned at the police academy, that you could not be scared every time.

They emphasized that every response could lead to the scene of where your life could end. You could never have a faltering strength when on the field, and always be prepared to take any action to ensure that you, and your partner, would come out of the situation alive.

However, this time, was very different.

He knew that the perps of the horrific crimes were no longer on the scene, but he could not help but feel uneasy about arriving on the scene. The captain was scared, and saying Olivia was scared would be the understatement of the year. She had made the feeling in his stomach worse, since Olivia was usually right about these kinds of situations.

As he followed the Captain, Munch, and Fin into the driveway of the abandoned warehouse, he looked over to glance at Olivia. He noticed that there were tearstains on her cheeks. She had her chin in her palm, with her elbow on the armrest, looking out the window. The look in her eyes seem dazed, making him believe that Olivia was not completely with him now. When he stopped the car, she seemed to have woken from a trance.

"Oh, I'm sorry Elliot. I must have been thinking harder than I thought."

"It's fine. I can understand why you were thinking so hard. After what captain said, I think everyone is pretty much scared to discover what is going on, and deciding whether or not they should not hand in their resignation before they find out."

"Would you really resign over a case? A case that you're not even sure what is about?"

"No. Then again, that is just me. If anything, it makes me want to work even harder to catch the people who did this."

"I agree. We should at least make an effort. You'll always miss every shot you don't take."

They climbed out of the car and hurried over to join the others, circled around Dr. Huang's car. Captain Cragen was with the other captains of the SVU bureaus in the city. Seeing them conversing what was surely about the case, made the others uneasy, as they still did not exactly know what was going on. The only one who did was M.E. Warner, and that was only because she was about to go inside the warehouse to examine the bodies.

"How many bodies are in there?" asked Olivia at the sight of more than a few medical examiners walking in.

"Lord knows," replied Elliot.

"We need to figure out what the hell is going on. This has gone on long enough." exclaimed Munch.

Just when he turned to walk to Cragen, M.E. Warner walked out of the warehouse.

"Oh my god." said Olivia.

Melinda Warner had tears running down her face. She was walking as if in a trance, not being able to comprehend her surroundings. She walked over to the group, taking her time. The team didn't rush her. As she was walking, Casey noticed another medical examiner running out, screaming and crying, into the arms of a man. She turned back to see Melinda, who had finally arrived.

"Melinda?" asked Fin. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

She stayed quiet for a minute, before looking like she was ready to respond. She must have changed her mind since her mouth closed again. Tears started pouring down faster, before she took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure...you all...should go in there. Never, in all my years, have I seen anything...like this. This...could not...been a crime of a human. If it was, that human has no soul at all. He, or maybe even she, has no sympathy or remorse for any of these children."

"Children?! How many?" said Elliot.

"I lost count after 50. This _person _hates children. And even that is an understatement."

"But what did he do to them?" asked Olivia.

"It's nothing that can't be explained. Unfortunately, something you need to see to understand. I just hope that you all won't get too many nightmares for this. I know I am. You all know me; I don't get frightened easily. There is one thing I can say about what he did: There was a good reason the _sex crimes_ unit was called. And I don't mean because you all handle cases dealing with children."

The group stayed silent, even after Warner left to talk with Cragen. There seemed to be nothing that they could think of to say. Fear was felt among them, not being able to cope with the trauma of an experience that had yet to happen.

"Ok. This has gone on long enough. We are going in there to find out what this case is about."

Everyone looked up at Olivia's words to see each other. Elliot looked at Olivia most of all, and noticed that she looked a little pale. He knew that it must have taken a lot of strength for her to say what everyone was avoiding.

"Agreed. Why don't we go in pairs so we, uh, don't have to be alone?" asked Elliot in a hopeful voice.

Everyone readily agreed. So off they went in pairs, with Elliot and Olivia in the lead, followed by Fin and Munch, with Casey and Huang bringing up the rear.

They all had different thoughts:

'I bet everyone can my heart beating so fast. I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest!'

'I have to try to keep my early lunch down. I knew I shouldn't have eaten that steak!'

'I almost don't want to know what happened with the children, but I have to in order to catch the bastards!'

'What kind of sick person is capable of hurting so many children?!'

'I just hope there aren't two many children that are very young inside.'

'I hope that the son of a bitches didn't hurt them too bad, but in the end it won't matter, they are still dead and I am going to want to kill them when I catch the bastards!'

They silently walked inside, with the sound of Warner losing her breakfast haunting them, and following them inside.


	3. Author's Note

I am extremely sorry for the year long awaiting for the following chapters and updates.

I went through another bought of depression in my life, contemplating what I wanted to do with my life, or if to live at all.

I also realized that I was extremely nervous after all the hype I put into the discovery of the crime scene. There were reviews and messages of people who were scared to learn what was happening next, which made me feel like many people were expecting something extremely drastic, which I'm not going to lie, put a lot of pressure. I had a basic idea of what I wanted to happen, but kept doubting and asking myself "Is this scary? Will this live up to their expectations?" Then I realized, "Who cares?"

This is my idea of what is scary and gruesome, taking ideas from previous episodes such as Charisma, Signature, and real life cases, such as the Black Dahlia murder, which I recently had to do a project on.

If you don't like the revelation, discovery, or my ideas, I don't really care. Or, write your own version! I grant permission! It's a free world, and this is a joined community of writers! Express your ideas, fears, and dreams into your writing! However, as always, if you do write your own version, do give my story and myself credit, and I would love if you send it to me! I would love hearing your ideas and what your thoughts were to be!

I once again apologize, and am so happy for the three months ahead of summer 2010 for writing and new ideas to come my way.

Can't wait to share them with you,

withinsvupotter


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